| 1. |
- Cronholm, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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Best Practice in IT Service Management : Experienced Strengths and Weaknesses of using ITIL
- 2016
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Ingår i: International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. - 9781910810842 ; , s. 60-67
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper focuses on the management of IT services and especially on best practices in the IT sector. Successful organizations must continuously improve their business management, including their IT management, in order to retain competitive advantages, and thus they need to reflect upon and improve their ways of working. One important aspect of this is usage of best practices. Best practices are toolsets or frameworks for the management of business and IT alignment, and their purpose is to improve the quality of IT services through delivering superior results compared to other frameworks, time after time. The most cited, globally recognized and adopted best practice is Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). The problem we address is that there exist contradictory claims concerning the usefulness of best practices. Due to these contradictory claims, the purpose of this paper is to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of ITIL. To fulfill the purpose of this paper, we have conducted a qualitative study where we have collected empirical experiences from use of ITIL. We have interviewed 15 IT managers and IT consultants about their experiences of using ITIL.We can conclude that previous findings are fragmented and thus we have presented a coherent and structured collection of empirical experiences categorized as strengths and weaknesses. The identified strengths are: high reliability, improved cost efficiency, a tool for communication and support for structured work. The identified weaknesses are: lack of concretion, adaptation difficulties, being too comprehensive and having high costs. These strengths and weaknesses have to be managed in accordance with the situation at hand. We believe that our findings can contribute in two ways: 1) they consist of a coherent and structured overview informing about both strengths and weaknesses, and 2) the weaknesses can be used as requirements for a redesign of ITIL. Our study has in a cumulative way advanced the state-of-the-art by adding new knowledge based on empirical data.
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| 2. |
- Persson, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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The International Context of Astrobiology
- 2018
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Ingår i: Astrobiology and Society in Europe Today. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 2191-9119 .- 2191-9100. - 9783319962641 - 9783319962658 ; , s. 11-17
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 3. |
- Persson, Nils-Krister, et al.
(författare)
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Re: en ny samhällssektor spirar
- 2016
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Resurser och hållbarhet är nära förknippade. Hållbarhet innebär att hushålla med resurser - materiella, miljömässiga och mänskliga. Och hushållning är per definition kärnan i ekonomi. Man börjar alltmer se framväxten av en hel arsenal av verktyg och förhållnings- och angreppssätt för att bygga hållbarhet. Detta förenas av ett synsätt att det som hitintills setts om avfall och värdelöst, och rent utav besvärligt att ta hand om, nu blir en värdefull resurs. Det glömda och gömda kommer åter. Faktum är att många ord och begrepp kring detta börjar på just åter- eller re- . Internationellt talar man om Redesign, Recycling, Remake, Recycle, Recraft, Reuse, Recreate, Reclaim, Reduce, Repair, Refashion.Vad är då allt detta? Ja, vill man dra det långt, är det inte mindre än framväxten av ett nyvunnet sätt att tänka, ja av en ny samhällssektor, en bransch och en industri, sammanbundet av filosofin att återanvändningen, spillminskningen, vidarebruket, efterlivet anses som viktiga faktorer för ett miljömedvetet samhälle. Re: blir paraplytermen för detta. I denna antologi av forskare från skilda discipliner vid Högskolan i Borås lyfts ett antal av dessa begrepp inom Re: fram.
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| 4. |
- Addario, Barbara, et al.
(författare)
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Characterisation of Schizosaccharomyces pombe alpha-actinin
- 2016
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Ingår i: PeerJ. - : PeerJ. - 2167-8359. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The actin cytoskeleton plays a fundamental role in eukaryotic cells. Its reorganization is regulated by a plethora of actin-modulating proteins, such as a-actinin. In higher organisms, alpha-actinin is characterized by the presence of three distinct structural domains: an N-terminal actin-binding domain and a C-terminal region with EF-hand motif separated by a central rod domain with four spectrin repeats. Sequence analysis has revealed that the central rod domain of alpha-actinin from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe consists of only two spectrin repeats. To obtain a firmer understanding of the structure and function of this unconventional alpha-actinin, we have cloned and characterized each structural domain. Our results show that this alpha-actinin isoform is capable of forming dimers and that the rod domain is required for this. However, its actin-binding and cross-linking activity appears less efficient compared to conventional alpha-actinins. The solved crystal structure of the actin-binding domain indicates that the closed state is stabilised by hydrogen bonds and a salt bridge not present in other a-actinins, which may reduce the affinity for actin.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Sandra Andersson, et al.
(författare)
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Undersökning av kalciumkarbonatförekomsten i Vombfältet
- 2015
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Ingår i: Vatten: tidskrift för vattenvård /Journal of Water Management and research. - 0042-2886. ; 71, s. 17-26
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- In a study of the neutralization capacity and limestone content the artificial recharge area of the Sydvatten waterworks Vombverket in Vomb, Skåne, five samples from different locations in the area was collected, sieved and acidified with hydrochloric acid. The neutralization capacity measured as calcium carbonate content was found to vary in the different sandy soil samples but was generally high (about 2–14 % by weight). The total mass of calcium carbonate in the infiltration area was determined taking into account the volume and density, i.e. possible porosity of the soil. There is at least equal to 4.3 million tons of calcium carbonate present in the infiltration area. This corresponds to a neutralization capacity of 88 x 109 moles in the study area. The annual limestone dissolution in the area is about 750 tons. The limestone content in the area is generally high and has a good ability to buffer also more acidic water than water from Vombsjön. At present limestone consumption, the neutralization capacity lasts for at least 5700 years.
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| 6. |
- Ardenfors, Oscar, et al.
(författare)
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Out-of-field doses from secondary radiation produced in proton therapy and the associated risk of radiation-induced cancer from a brain tumor treatment
- 2018
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Ingår i: Physica medica (Testo stampato). - : Elsevier BV. - 1120-1797 .- 1724-191X. ; 53, s. 129-136
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeTo determine out-of-field doses produced in proton pencil beam scanning (PBS) therapy using Monte Carlo simulations and to estimate the associated risk of radiation-induced second cancer from a brain tumor treatment.MethodsSimulations of out-of-field absorbed doses were performed with MCNP6 and benchmarked against measurements with tissue-equivalent proportional counters (TEPC) for three irradiation setups: two irradiations of a water phantom using proton energies of 78-147 MeV and 177-223 MeV, and one brain tumor irradiation of a whole-body phantom. Out-of-field absorbed and equivalent doses to organs in a whole-body phantom following a brain tumor treatment were subsequently simulated and used to estimate the risk of radiation-induced cancer. Additionally, the contribution of absorbed dose originating from radiation produced in the nozzle was calculated from simulations.ResultsOut-of-field absorbed doses to the TEPC ranged from 0.4 to 135 mu Gy/Gy. The average deviation between simulations and measurements of the water phantom irradiations was about 17%. The absorbed dose contribution from radiation produced in the nozzle ranged between 0 and 70% of the total dose; the contribution was however small in absolute terms. The absorbed and equivalent doses to the organs ranged between 0.2 and 60 mu Gy/Gy and 0.5-151 mu Sv/Gy. The estimated lifetime risk of radiation-induced second cancer was approximately 0.01%.ConclusionsThe agreement of out-of-field absorbed doses between measurements and simulations was good given the sources of uncertainties. Calculations of out-of-field organ doses following a brain tumor treatment indicated that proton PBS therapy of brain tumors is associated with a low risk of radiation-induced cancer.
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| 7. |
- Bao, Xue, et al.
(författare)
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Comparing the inflammatory profiles for incidence of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases : A prospective study exploring the 'common soil' hypothesis
- 2018
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Ingår i: Cardiovascular Diabetology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1475-2840. ; 17:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Chronic low-grade inflammation and associated insulin resistance and metabolic abnormalities have been proposed as 'common soil' for diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This paper aimed to investigate the inflammatory profiles of DM and CVD and to distinguish their shared and specific markers. Methods: Based on the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort, total and differential leukocyte counts were measured in 25,969 participants without previous DM or CVD and were studied in relation to incident DM (mean follow-up 17.4±5.58years) and incident CVD (i.e., coronary events, including fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction, or stroke); mean follow-up 17.7±5.46years, using multivariable Cox regression models. Furthermore, plasma concentrations of another seven inflammatory markers were examined in relation to incident DM and incident CVD in a sub-cohort of 4658 participants. The associations of each inflammatory marker with incident DM versus incident CVD were compared using the Lunn-McNeil competing risks approach. In sensitivity analyses, those who developed both DM and CVD during follow-up were excluded. Results: After adjustment for conventional risk factors, total and differential leukocyte counts, orosomucoid, and C-reactive protein were associated with an increased risk of both DM and CVD. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, ceruloplasmin, alpha1-antitrypsin and soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor predicted increased risk of CVD but not DM, while haptoglobin and complement C3 showed the opposite pattern. In competing risks analyses, lymphocyte count and complement C3 had stronger associations with risk of DM than with risk of CVD (p for equal associations=0.020 and 0.006). The reverse was true for neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (p for equal associations=0.025). Results were consistent in sensitivity analyses. Conclusions: The results indicated substantial similarities in the inflammatory profiles associated with DM and CVD. However, there are also significant differences. These findings may help discriminate between individuals at elevated risk of DM and those at elevated risk of CVD, which is a prerequisite for targeted therapies.
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| 10. |
- Borgmästars, Emmy, et al.
(författare)
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Improved Detection of Norovirus and Hepatitis A Virus in Surface Water by Applying Pre-PCR Processing
- 2017
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Ingår i: Food and Environmental Virology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1867-0334 .- 1867-0342. ; 9:4, s. 395-405
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) detection of waterborne RNA viruses generally requires concentration of large water volumes due to low virus levels. A common approach is to use dead-end ultrafiltration followed by precipitation with polyethylene glycol. However, this procedure often leads to the co-concentration of PCR inhibitors that impairs the limit of detection and causes false-negative results. Here, we applied the concept of pre-PCR processing to optimize RT-qPCR detection of norovirus genogroup I (GI), genogroup II (GII), and hepatitis A virus (HAV) in challenging water matrices. The RT-qPCR assay was improved by screening for an inhibitor-tolerant master mix and modifying the primers with twisted intercalating nucleic acid molecules. Additionally, a modified protocol based on chaotropic lysis buffer and magnetic silica bead nucleic acid extraction was developed for complex water matrices. A validation of the modified extraction protocol on surface and drinking waters was performed. At least a 26-fold improvement was seen in the most complex surface water studied. The modified protocol resulted in average recoveries of 33, 13, 8, and 4% for mengovirus, norovirus GI, GII, and HAV, respectively. The modified protocol also improved the limit of detection for norovirus GI and HAV. RT-qPCR inhibition with Cq shifts of 1.6, 2.8, and 3.5 for norovirus GI, GII, and HAV, respectively, obtained for the standard nucleic acid extraction were completely eliminated by the modified protocol. The standard nucleic acid extraction method worked well on drinking water with no RT-qPCR inhibition observed and average recoveries of 80, 124, 89, and 32% for mengovirus, norovirus GI, GII, and HAV, respectively.
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